Symptom of Wild Expectations

Tight defense, superb goaltending and a spirited, team-first attitude made the Minnesota Wild the darling of the NHL last season. In upsetting Colorado and Vancouver and reaching the Western Conference finals in its third season, the Wild became a model of how to win on a modest budget.

“As the season unfolded, we were on this roll,” General Manager Doug Risebrough said. “I don’t know what it was. I couldn’t explain it. We wanted to see how far that roll could go. Now, probably, it’s harder to get on that roll and maybe a little unrealistic.”

Higher expectations and efforts to educate and cultivate youngsters on the fly have tripped the Wild this season. Contract disputes with Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis tested the team’s unity and changed the overall balance. Mired in a five-game winless streak and 13th in the West, the Wild is hoping less to recapture its magic than simply to recapture a playoff position.

“The goal of the organization is to be a long-term contender and to do that you have to have more depth, more experience and more maturity,” Risebrough said. “We gained some experience with what happened last year. Have we gained a lot of depth? No, because we’re 3 years old. We’ve got to be patient.

“We’re learning as we’re experiencing something we really haven’t had to experience before. It’s a hard lesson. Hard lessons, really, but in some ways they’re unavoidable. This is all part of the development.”

Although Gaborik and Dupuis have long since returned to the lineup -- Dupuis signed a three-year, $2.5-million deal Oct. 25 and Gaborik signed a three-year, $9.5-million deal Oct. 31 -- ripples remain from their absence.

“It’s a consistent effect for players that hold out,” Risebrough said. “They’re behind, and I think they put more pressure on themselves. They’re both young players who really want to do well, but maybe the trouble is, they’re trying to do well in a specific part of the game but not overall.... Hockey’s a team game and doing your job in a specific situation is the best thing you could do. Trying to do more doesn’t translate into more success as a team.”

In the end, he believes, last spring’s success will be a foundation, not a fluke.

“Not very often do you get a chance to show players how hard it is to win and what the demands are of the playoffs,” Risebrough said. “We had something that showed them that. I’m pretty happy our organization had that chance. The trade-off would have been not to go that far and not increase expectations, but this is about reaching higher all the time. We wouldn’t trade it.”

Royal Maneuver

The Kings’ acquisition of Martin Straka from Pittsburgh for Martin Strbak and Sergei Anshakov means two things:

* They don’t expect Adam Deadmarsh or Jason Allison to return soon, if at all.

* The Penguins are in worse shape than anyone knew. Owner Mario Lemieux is giving up $4.7 million he was to get for off-ice duties and deferred compensation, and Marc-Andre Fleury’s playing time is being limited so he won’t earn big bonuses.

Adding the skilled but costly Straka was a good move for the Kings, who have done a lot with very little and are battling for first in the bizarre Pacific Division.

No Longer Prey

The Nashville Predators might be this season’s Minnesota Wild -- a small-market, small-budget team that’s surprisingly competitive.

Despite a league-low payroll that barely tops $20 million, they have 25 points, the most they’ve had after 23 games. But their attendance average of 12,172 fans -- 71% of capacity at the Gaylord Entertainment Center -- continues declining since a peak of 16,600 in 1999-2000.

“Fans’ expectations have changed. The honeymoon is over,” General Manager David Poile said. “Certainly, it’s a little bit the economy. And the [NFL’s] Titans have done so well. Fans look at us as not being as competitive as they would like us to be.

“The first three years, we were pretty close to capacity, so we saw the market is there. It’s up to us to bring it back.”

Lately, they’ve done their part, winning four straight and eight of their last 10. Their mobile defense is an offensive asset, and Marek Zidlicky is third among defensemen with six goals and 17 points. Right wing Vladimir Orszagh has scored eight goals; youngsters David Legwand and Scott Hartnell have five and seven, respectively.

Poile said talk of a lockout next season might keep fans away, but he considers major economic changes essential to the survival of small-market clubs like his.

“We’re hoping to get into a new system where general managers, coaches and scouts will be more important than spending,” he said. “If it’s a level playing field, we could get a huge boost from the [collective bargaining agreement].”

Fore!

Chicago-area golf courses have been feeling a pinch in the few weeks since Dale Tallon left the Blackhawks’ broadcast booth to become the team’s assistant general manager.

“I haven’t played since I started,” said Tallon, who was a golf pro for 10 years and qualified for the Senior PGA championship this year but missed the final cut. “I don’t intend on playing much. I’ve got a lot of work, a lot to learn, a lot of traveling to do.”

With the Blackhawks in a 0-7-1-3 swoon, Tallon has plenty of work to do. Chicago has lacked as many as seven regulars, including goalie Jocelyn Thibault (hip surgery), Eric Daze (back stiffness) and Alex Zhamnov (back surgery), and has had seven rookies in the lineup. Six of the losses in the streak have been by one goal.

“Long-term, with the kids we have, the future looks good,” Tallon said. “We’re going to continue to keep the faith. Ideally, we’d like to keep them down on the farm a little longer, and when our injured guys come back we’re going to put them back there and let them grow as a unit and come back together.

“Edmonton did it. The Islanders did it. [New] Jersey’s done it. It’s no secret. You build either through the draft, trade or free agency, and I figure we’re going to try to do it through the draft.”

Money Makes the World Go Round

Forbes magazine cited the Ottawa Senators and Wild as the NHL’s most efficient teams last season, based on performance versus player costs, estimating that the Wild made $20 million. “The premium in the NHL is on cost control and smart management,” Forbes said in its Dec. 8 issue.

However, Forbes’ overall outlook for the NHL was grim. It said team values had decreased 3% to an average of $159 million and at least seven teams were for sale. It also said the Ducks had lost $11 million last season, the St. Louis Blues $29 million and the Carolina Hurricanes $13 million, and that teams collectively had lost $123 million before interest, taxes and depreciation. Those figures are in line with what clubs say privately, but Forbes’ estimate of the league’s losses is significantly less than the NHL’s claim of $300 million.

Forbes based its reports on data supplied by clubs and published figures, such as local and national TV revenues, so it’s not exact. A year ago, the Kings disputed Forbes’ claim that they’d made $7 million in 2001-02, saying they’d actually lost $6.5 million. But Forbes’ guesses are educated and its warnings about the damage a lockout could cause are sobering.

Slap Shots

Washington Capital owner Ted Leonsis denied reports in the New York Post last week that Jaromir Jagr was soon to be a Ranger. The Rangers nearly got him last summer, but even they’re leery of taking on a contract that will pay him $11 million a year through 2007-08 and the league pressing for a salary cap or something like it.

The Rangers want the Capitals to pay about $25 million of Jagr’s salary but the Capitals can afford to wait, hoping the Rangers will be willing to pay more or all of it. It’s the Capitals’ fault for paying Jagr so much in the first place, but it doesn’t help the NHL when a new and enthusiastic owner such as Leonsis feels he got burned.

It’s like riding a bicycle: Faceoff ace Adam Oates, signed by the Oilers Nov. 17 as a free agent, won 11 of 16 draws (68%) in his Edmonton debut on Friday.... The Devils’ 2-0 loss Friday left only two teams that haven’t been shut out this season, St. Louis and Washington.... The toque worn by Montreal goalie Jose Theodore in the Heritage Classic outdoor game Nov. 22 is a hot item. The knitted hat was requested by the Hall of Fame, and the Canadiens are scrambling to fill fans’ orders for replicas.